The hooks are carried by a moulded plastic plate which has rear facing pegs for engaging vertical pegboard. The forward extending wire limbs are about 300 mm long. The lower limb ends in an upwardly sloping portion and this prevents suspended packets from falling off the limb. The upper limb ends in a downwardly directed portion which supports a rectangular plate. The plate has a clear plastic envelope for displaying a card showing a bar code and price information.
Such scanning hooks make good use of retail space in that they allow high packing density, are easy to load with replacement packets and instantly readable by shop assistants. The same easy loading encourages theft in that a thief is able to sweep a group of packets into a waiting bag without tearing the eye of the card to which the packets are attached. This allows the stock to be re-hung and sold in another location.
One type of anti-theft hook divides the lower bar into three straight portions separated by two peaks. This ensures that instead of a rapid single sweep, careful manual guiding of the packets in a serpentine path along the bar is necessary. This may attract the attention of store surveillance staff.